Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2010-11: Sam Reinhart, selected by Kootenay in the first round (15th overall) in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, made his WHL debut as a 15-year old. He appeared in four regular season games, seven playoff contests, and one Memorial Cup game with the Ice. Reinhart scored 2 goals and was +4 in the regular season and was -1 with no points nor penalty minutes in five post-season games. He was the second-leading scorer for the BC midget major champion Vancouver NW Giants and represented British Columbia in the Canada Winter Games. He scored 38 goals with 40 assists and had 6 penalty minutes in 34 games. In five playoff games he scored 5 goals with 4 assists. Reinhart was the second-leading scorer at the Telus Cup behind teammate Alex Kerfoot, finishing with 7 goals and 13 assists in seven games. The Giants lost to Lac St-Louis in the bronze medal game. Reinhart won a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games – scoring 4 goals with 7 assists and 2 penalty minutes in six games.

2011-12: Reinhart was the second-leading scorer for Kootenay behind his older brother Max Reinhart (Calgary) and was named the WHL’s Rookie of the Year. He scored 28 goals with 34 assists and was +16 with 2 penalty minutes in 67 games. The Ice finished fourth in the Central Division before being swept by first place Edmonton in the first round. Reinhart scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was -2 in four playoff games. He represented Canada in the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship and played for Canada Pacific in the 2012 U17 World Hockey Challenge. Reinhart scored 2 goals with 4 assists and was +1 as Canada captured the bronze medal at the U18 WJC. In five games for Canada Pacific he scored 4 goals with 6 assists and 2 penalty minutes.

2012-13: Reinhart was Kootenay’s leading scorer in his second season with the Ice and was a team captain for Canada’s U18 team in both the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial and 2013 World Junior Championship tournaments. He scored 35 goals with 50 assists and was +8 with 22 penalty minutes in 72 WHL games. Kootenay finished fifth in the Central Division and lost to Edmonton in the first round. Reinhart had 1 assist and was -8 with 4 penalty minutes in five playoff games. He scored 3 goals with 5 assists and was +7 in five games as Canada won the gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka tournament and scored 3 goals with 4 assists and was +7 in seven games for Canada as the team captured a gold medal at the U18 WJC.

2013-14: Reinhart was named a team captain for Kootenay in his third WHL season and played for Canada in the 2014 World Junior Championship. The WHL’s fourth-leading scorer, he scored 36 goals and was second in the league with 69 assists, finishing +24 with 11 penalty minutes in 60 regular season games. The Ice finished fourth in the Central Division and reached the second round in the playoffs. Reinhart scored 6 goals with 17 assists and was +4 with 2 penalty minutes in 13 playoff games. He scored 2 goals with 3 assists and was +3 in seven games at the WJC. Canada finished fourth, losing to Russia, 2-1, in the bronze medal game. Reinhart was ranked third amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by Buffalo in the first round (2nd overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

2014-15: Reinhart made the Sabres out of training camp and skated in nine games with Buffalo before being returned to the WHL in October. He was an assistant captain for the gold medal Canada U20 team at the 2015 World Junior Championship. He had 1 assist and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes; averaging 10:22 minutes of ice time with Buffalo. Reinhart was the third-leading scorer for Kootenay despite appearing in just 47 games — scoring 19 goals with 46 assists — and was +6 with 20 penalty minutes. The Ice rebounded from a slow start to finish fourth in the Central Division and earn a wildcard playoff spot. Reinhart scored 5 goals with 6 assists and was +13 with 6 penalty minutes in seven games for Canada at the WJC. He scored once and was +3 in Canada’s 5-4 win over Russia in the gold medal game.

Talent Analysis

Reinhart has all the tools offensively — great vision and patience, soft hands and a quick release, and outstanding puck skills. He often dictates the play. Reinhart is well-disciplined and is seldom caught out of position. He is not physically dominant but plays with composure and seldom loses his focus. He rarely takes penalties.

Future

Reinhart is a good two-way player with a high IQ hockey, and the ability to make his line mates better. A natural center, Reinhart will begin his pro career on the wing with Buffalo’s glut of centers. His focus right now should be learning the pro game and adapting to its physicality, something he struggled with in his nine-game stint the previous season. He has the talent to be a first or second-line center and is expected to be one of the team’s franchise leaders along with Jack Eichel.

Photo: Team Canada strikes the traditional championship team pose after going undefeated at the 2013 U18 WJC to win the gold medal (courtesy of Chapin Landvogt/HF)

If it's Russia, it must mean gold for Canada at the U18 World Junior Championship as, for the third time on Russian soil, the Canadians once again came away with this tournament's top prize after defeating Team USA, 3-2, in the gold medal game.